It doesn’t take a genius to know that Honda‘s Odyssey is destined to be a brisk seller. As the undisputed king of the minivan segment, the Odyssey is still popular even with an onslaught of new competitors from Chrysler, Dodge, Kia and Toyota. The rest of the lineup isn’t so hot. The Insight is being...
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Honda is cutting the base price of its slow-selling Insight hybrid by $1,600, and offering a base model that retails for $18,950, putting it $4,610 below the cheapest Toyota Prius. Honda achieved the price cut by removing features like Bluetooth connectivity and a GPS navigation system, while using cheaper seat fabric and a two speaker...
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Honda has made some improvements to the stop-start system on their Insight hybrid car, allowing drivers to keep the engine off for up to 3 times as long as previous years. Insights before 2011 could keep the engine stopped for up to 30 seconds, but new improvements for this coming model year allow for the...
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Despite pioneering the technology behind hydrogen fuel cells, Honda is lagging far behind arch-rival Toyota in the hybrid and electric vehicle segment. With the Toyota commanding over 70% of hybrid market share, and Honda’s Civic, Accord and Insight hybrid models all falling flat, the big H must do something quickly to avoid losing the segment...
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In response to rumors that Honda‘s Canadian division would axe the low-selling Insight and Civic Hybrid, Honda Canada has issued a statement confirming plans to continue sales of the two models… for now. We contacted Honda Canada and received a message from PR boss Richard Jacobs confirming the models for the future, but the “official...
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Honda may drop both the Civic Hybrid and the Insight from its lineup in Canada. According to a recent report by Monvolant, the two hybrids will be eliminated from the product plan – likely in response to dismally poor sales. This would then leave the new CR-Z as the only hybrid in Honda Canada’s lineup....
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Along with building high revving engines, Honda is also well known for building cars that are fun to drive, which is part of the reason why journalists universally panned the Insight hybrid. The suspension on the Insight was more up to Toyota standards than Honda ones and so Honda has decided to rectify the situation...
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Hybrid cars are a huge hit in California and for a number of reasons. The first reason you might think of is the that citizens of the fine state are concerned about the environment. And while that might be true, there’s also a more self-serving reason, namely, that the California DMV issues 85,000 “Clean Air...
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It seems that these days we never stop hearing about how fuel efficient some new model is, so it may shock you to learn that the highest mileage model currently on the road was introduced back in 1999. That’s right, the original Honda Insight with its hybrid 3-cylinder engine displacing just 1.0-liters was rated at...
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Parents magazine has made the list (and assumedly checked it twice) to bring you their top 15 picks of family-friendly vehicles for 2010. Teaming up with Edmunds.com, Parents has only included models that come equipped with antilock brakes and front, side, and side-curtain air bags. These vehicles also come with family necessities such as sliding...
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Honda‘s newish Insight hybrid had a lot of buzz when it first launched, but in just a year it has since faded into oblivion. Sure it undercut the Prius in price, but it didn’t get near the mpgs, and wasn’t the sort of dynamic drive that people have come to expect from a Honda. We...
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With the overwhelming amount of aftermarket manufacturers tuning hybrids at this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon, it’s no surprise that C-West has also hopped on the bandwagon. Interestingly enough, we haven’t heard much news from C-West over in North America. Several years back they made a strong push and presence Stateside with their full-carbon record-setting Time...
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Honda is expecting that its new Insight hybrid won’t meet its sales target because it’s to small. That, at least, is the opinion of Honda Executive Vice President Koichi Kondo, who told Bloomberg, “I think we compromised too much on size in pursuing fuel efficiency.” Honda had expected to sell as many as 200,000 units...
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While many Japanese aftermarket tuners are taking on the newest models including many of them turning towards European applications, J’s Racing has stuck to what they know best: Hondas. The company’s booth wasn’t overwhelmingly large, but it was clear that J’s Racing is aware of the new Hybrid-tuning craze, displaying its own version of a...
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Honda announced a production version of its CR-Z hybrid concept will be introduced to North America in the second half of 2010. As the second version of the CR-Z concept was unveiled at the Tokyo Auto Show, Honda announced the production version will be a sporty 2-seat hybrid, the first hybrid car set up with...
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Ford is closing in on its Japanese rivals in the hybrid sales race. So far in 2009 the American automaker has posted a 73 percent gain in its hybrid sales with a total of 26,016 vehicles sold. That number is roughly 4,000 short of Honda’s total hybrid sales at 29,958 units, but the percentage of...
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Honda has just announced that a revised version of its CR-Z hybrid hatchback will debut at the Tokyo Auto Show next month. Honda has already produced a concept version of this car, but the new one (shown above) is as close to production as concepts get. The design has been toned down just ever so...
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We still have more than half of 2009 to go and already the list of 2010 North American Car & Truck of the Year nominees have been picked. That’s because the list is essentially a list of every new model for 2010. Nominated for car of the year are: the Audi S4, BMW Z4, BMW...
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Toyota is expected to release pricing for the new 2010 Prius tomorrow and the cost of ownership will be 21,000. This is $1,000 less than the current model. Bloomberg is reporting the drop and citing an unnamed source. This news comes several weeks after Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported Toyota made a similar move in it’s...
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Honda has just announced that the starting price for a new 2010 Insight hybrid will be $19,800 – making it the lowest-priced hybrid for sale in the U.S. The Insight is set to go on sale March 24th. The $19,800 price is for the LX model, which includes front, front-side and side-curtain airbags; an anti-lock...
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According to a report in Automotive News, Honda Executive Vice President Koichi Kondo is looking to sell the new Insight hybrid compact-car for under $20,000 in the United States – undercutting Toyota’s Prius by $2,000. At the launch for the car in Japan, Kondo stated that while the company is reviewing its goals and forecasts...
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Honda already makes a Civic Hybrid, but Toyota has a stranglehold on the Hybrid market do to the clever idea of building the Prius as a standalone platform. Named the “greenest automaker” by the Union of Concerned Scientists in 2007 for the fourth straight year, Honda is eager to make sure the world sees it...
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